A Message from the Dean of Yale College

We officially call this publication Yale College Programs of Study, but generations of students and faculty have known it simply as the Blue Book. A compendium of roughly 2,000 courses to be offered in Yale College in 2014–2015, the Blue Book is a resource to use. Bookmark pages you wish to return to; browse the subjects that you find yourself called to. Let the Blue Book be your key to the renowned faculty at Yale, through whose courses you will develop the intellectual knowledge, skills, and sense of citizenship that will serve you all the days of your lives.

Of course, a listing of individual courses does not constitute an education. To help shape that education, we offer you the counsel of faculty and deans and the guiding principles of our distributional requirements, but in the end we are counting on you to explore your old passions and new interests in ways that will lead you to become cultivated citizens of the world. Our expectation is that when you leave Yale, you will not only have acquired a trained mind, broadened knowledge, and a greater sense of citizenship; you also will have come to a deeper understanding of the continuing joy of disciplined learning.

We hope that perusing the pages of this catalog will stir you to consider courses of study that you had never before imagined and lead you deeper into intellectual worlds you already have explored. The Blue Book represents the heart and soul of what the Yale faculty holds in promise for you. It comes to you with our best wishes for a successful year.

Jonathan HollowayDean of Yale College
Professor, African American Studies and History